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New NLL franchise in Vegas has Gretzky, Nash involved as part owners

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The National Lacrosse League is being handed a major opportunity that it must take advantage of.

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The league officially introduced its Las Vegas expansion franchise on Monday and it’s led by an all-star ownership group with the potential to spread the league’s gospel far beyond the city’s limits.

The team, which will begin play at the Mandalay Bay resort’s Michelob Ultra Arena in late 2022, is principally owned by Joe Tsai, who also owns the league’s San Diego Seals and is the principal owner of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. But it’s the minority group of investors that have NLL brass and fans really thinking of what this league could become.

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Tsai has brought Wayne Gretzky, PGA major champion Dustin Johnson, and current Nets coach Steve Nash to the fold. Already a part-owner of the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps, basketball hall-of-famer Nash played lacrosse as a youth in his native Victoria B.C. Gretzky, who first got into sports ownership when he, Bruce McNall and the late John Candy ran the Toronto Argonauts 30 years ago, is among a long list of NHL stars and legends who played the game as a youngster.

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“We’re talking some huge names and major players in the sports industry,” Toronto Rock owner Jamie Dawick said. “You have a who’s who of sports investing in our league and that’s exciting.

“They’re not just putting money into it. You’ll see these guys around. I like to think that the day we play Vegas here that Wayne will be in the building watching.”

In the past four years, the NLL has grown from nine to 15 franchises including first-time markets San Diego, Halifax and, coming this season, Fort Worth, Tex. But like other leagues below the four major pro sports, the NLL needs to constantly promote and market itself and having the likes of Gretzky, Nash and Johnson dropping the NLL name around could spark some interest.

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“I’ll put up our product against the NFL, the NHL, any of those leagues,” Dawick said. “From an entertainment standpoint, our product is on par with any of them.

“We need more people to get eyeballs on it. Maybe people will check it out because these guys are involved.”

To that effect, the league needs to be back on television. Pay streaming services and social media streaming may be the future but the casual North American sports fan clearly isn’t at the point yet where they are willing to pay for it. A Vegas presence and this ownership group could accelerate that process.

“It has to be on a platform where people can bump into it and fall in love with it,” Dawick said. “Behind a paywall, the only people who are watching are hardcore fans.”

Gretzky and Tsai attended the opening news conference. Tsai, a technology mogul who played the sport while in college and is also an investor in the outdoor Premier Lacrosse League, said the Vegas community will be involved in naming the team and designing its logo.

“Our first goal is to be part of the community and grow the game,” Gretzky said. “We want to be known as your home team and put on a great show every weekend.

“(Tsai) really wants to make it fun for the kids in this community.”

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